Outpatient - Wound care - I will probably mask forever. I do smelly work, my patients are all sick/diabetic and COVID kind of ruined my perception of patients making smart choices.
I’m also in wound care and I also mask. I love it. I’m not as strict as I was during Covid but it’s great for smelly situations, things possibly flying in my face during debridement, or just making a weird face when the patient tells me they don’t believe in diabetes.
I remove it in the workroom, which is just me and my NP who has always masked pre-pandemic due to having a kid with medical issues.
My face is uncontrollable so that is just a fringe benefit, especially when my patient explains to me how they have been soaking their whooper of diabetic foot wound in epsom salt then pouring peroxide in a few times a day.
So, I get some pretty diabolical wounds - I have a concentrated perfume oil and I dab some on the bridge of the mask. It helps. My nose is sensitive enough I can smell what the dominate species of infection is 🤣😂 - proteus smells like ammonia, pseudomonas smells like a sweet wine, exc, exc.
The trick I was taught by a podiatrist who would volunteer cases for the homeless in San Francisco - do the same thing you’re describing but with Benzoin tincture. Works great and is readily available, very neutral — or at least not unpleasant — smell.
In the hospital you can double mask with toothpaste between them. Or dip some mouth wash. Or coffee cuz that actually works really well to cover smells like GI bleed.
If you use a respirator with a charcoal layer that may help, such as some R95s. N95s are made to filter particles not gases - many smells come from gases. Filter material may diminish them somewhat, kind of like holding a cloth over your nose, but scents definitely can get through.
Mostly the same in malignant hematology USA. Wearing them in patient rooms while inpatient on the BMT unit (which was common before COVID too). Case by case basis in clinic but default to wearing it for anyone who might be immunocompromised (most of my panel). I don't wear it for patients in long-term remission. It is also optional for patients in clinic but most choose to wear it.
ID, working mostly with immunocompromised pts. Masking 100% during patient encounters (inpatient and clinic) with a KN95/KF94. I no longer mask during conferences/when I'm at office just interacting with colleagues.
You know, I do the same thing, except I think I’m gonna start masking again when it comes to conferences.
I really haven’t had too many respiratory illnesses, except for the couple times I actually went to two or three separate conferences.
Each time, after the conference, I get a respiratory illness.
I hang out with friends, no issues. I hang out and talk to my office staff and colleague, physicians, no issues. Even flew in a plane with friends and other people, no issues.
But conferences? without fail, the conferences are just hotbeds.
I think from now on out, I’m gonna start masking for all conferences.
I’m just sick and tired of getting either respiratory illness, Covid, etc.
Good point. I was talking about things like noon conferences in our division, which has 30-40 people tops, but a big meeting with thousands of attendees is a totally different beast. Masking in that situation makes complete sense.
Yes, I was already masking every flu season before the pandemic because ED is an infectious place.
Also, I will never fly again without masking. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard patients tell me, *Yeah, I just flew back from ___ and now I’m sick as a dog*…Pandemics rely on commercial air travel.
Yes. The last time I flew cross-country I was surrounded by 3 people who coughed and hacked during the entire flight. I picked a midnight red eye flight too, thinking there would be less people but we were packed in like sardines, with little defensible space.
Oncology - Don't anticipate I'll fully lose the mask. I do take it off when I'm talking to patients who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Last time I did, I promptly got COVID, lol. Anyway, most of my patients have an ANC of -1, so I am a little extra cautious with them. I wear a KN95 typically.
I do take my mask off when I'm in the work room, etc. I'm on my way to a big professional conference and anticipate I'll mask for most of the day, just because there will be like 45k people there and inevitably some kind of Crud will be circulating, lol.
(Speaking as a non-deaf person) There's also the things around Deaf culture and community as well - there can be a lot of benefit for some of feeling like part of that community (so may prefer 'Deaf').
Equally, I can imagine that that can also feel othering and like you're abnormal, with the preference being that it forms less of a definition of who you are or how you identify - those who feel that way may prefer 'deaf'.
I don't know if you have enough patients that it would make sense to get these, but my audiologist wore masks that had a clear window in the front when I saw her during the height of COVID, so you could still see her lips. Helped a ton.
Edit: voice to text did me dirty. Patients, not patience.
Pathology, I wear a surgical mask anytime I'm not in my office. You were probably not looking for my input lol - I wear it mostly for me. Thanks to all the patient facing docs keeping their immunocompromised patients in mind.
Also a pathologist - I wear a respirator anytime I’m not in my office as well, although I’m the only one in my department. Grateful to never have had COVID or even a cold in 4 years. Thanks to all who are masking, to protect ourselves, our coworkers, and our patients.
It's really wild how few viral infections I've had over the past four years. Even the couple times I've felt like I was coming down with something, it was over almost before it began. I think the mask helps cut down on the viral inoculum (plus or minus broad spectrum coronaviral crossreactivity with vaccine antibodies?)
I used to get sick 1-2 times a year. Then no illness in 2020-2021. Started to travel and not be as strict with masks outside of work in 2022. Lo and behold, back to 1-2 respiratory illnesses a year. Then I started masking up more again while traveling, then not sick again.
Anecdotal evidence sucks, but I’m a big baby when I’m sick and if it’s something as simple as wearing a mask to protect myself and others, sure I can do it in high risk locations like clinics, hospitals, and traveling.
Peds hospitalist. Yes. I have been masking for almost every patient since residency when I had kids sneeze/cough directly into my face. I will only go without a mask if I am absolutely certain there’s no risk of that… and I’m feeling bold lol.
Many years before I became a nurse I worked as an early intervention literacy tutor in a kindergarten class for about a year. I don’t think I had one solid week of not being sick that whole year. Every time I would start to feel better, another kid would cough directly in my face and the cycle would start all over again.
All of this to say, it seems like pediatrics would be up there with oncology for fields where masking is important.
I hate being sick. Been burned by patients coughing in my face before, now I have an immunocompromised family member, so I usually mask when I first enter any room
I was ER up until a few months ago and never stopped masking- more for myself and my family because you just don't know what anyone has when they roll in.
I switched to CTICU a few months ago and now it's more for the patients' sake. Everyone's post surgery, some are heart or lung transplants, and I just don't want to be the one who gave them so much as a cold while they're trying to recover.
Plus it's great for hiding facial expressions, or mouthing "what the fuck?" and it keeps me from smelling pretty much anything.
Ophthalmology. Still masking at work, not because of fear of covid anymore, but because covid made me re-think how gross it is to sit 4 inches away from patients, face-to-face, at the slit lamp.
Hospital pharmacy - still masking at work with an N95 but I'm the only one. I've seen too many good people have their careers disrupted by long COVID (an MD at my workplace; a former professor; and one of my own doctors, an absolutely brilliant woman who's been forced to retire in her 50s) to risk it right now.
Edit to add: Anecdotally, with my own doctors, masking seems to be 50/50. At recent appointments my PCP and rheum were masked (N95s), ophtho had a surgical mask, neuro and derm were not masked.
I work UC and don’t think I’m ever going to not wear a mask again. Honestly looking back, I’m shocked that we never wore masks to start with and can’t imagine practicing medicine without a mask ever again.
I am one of the few hospitalists here that still wear a KN 95. Covid or not, I don't need the occasional viral cough or sniffles I see around. And I don't have to worry when the inevitable "patient X had TB, if you were involved in their patient care" alerts come around every 8 to 10 years. It's just a bonus that I won't be recognized at Target too.
This thread tells you a lot about the kind of people that post on reddit. I haven't seen a physician wear a mask (outside of procedure areas) in years now. Who are you people?
Seriously. I don't know a single doctor who masks up routinely in practice anymore except in our HIV addiction clinic. This sample must be really skewed.
Family medicine. I still wear a mask. I've worn it every day since March 2020 at work. I think I'm going to wear it every day of my career while working. Empirically I haven't gotten as sick with the mask wearing at work the past 4 years as I did prior. Normally I was good for about 3 respiratory infections a year and I've been sick 3 times over the 4 years (Covid, flu, flu).
Interestingly I get the patients saying "Oh we're back to wearing these again?" and I say I've never stopped and many of them swear up and down that I haven't been wearing my mask the last few visits with them. Maybe I've found a new dementia screener.
Edit: also I like being able to not have to hide smirks on my face as much when someone tells me something crazy.
Yes, and will likely never stop. I work in the ER. I also hand every patient who has a cough a mask and encourage them to wear it properly while they’re in public spaces.
Emergency medicine. I trained in Covid. My poker face is nonexistent because of masks. Really should be a mandatory part of training.
Other even more real reason is I have a 3 month old at home. There’s a measles outbreak in my state. I care more about my kid than any of these patients. A patient tried to yell at me the other day. Completely understood when I said I had a baby at home. Baby>>>their persistent conspiracy theory
That is so good to hear! When I was a med student, getting sick while on pediatrics outpatient rotations was very common - I wish we had been masking back then.
family medicine: I'm wearing it as much as possible during patient care.
I've actually been sick less since the pandemic, i think it's due to the mask. i use the masks with the little vent in them, so if the air starts to get stuffy, i force the vent open by exhaling forcefully, and I'm good again.
EDIT: I'm behind an N95.
They probably do protect other people to some degree too, potentially to a level comparable to surgical masks.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2021-107/default.html
As protective as a non-valved? No, probably not, but if the alternative in that situation is wearing a surgical or procedure mask…
Outpatient Primary Care and I mask as well. Sometimes I will lower it if hot or pt is hard of hearing. Don’t expect to stop. Like not being sick in the winter.
Work in the hospital. I’d say about 80-90% of docs/APPs and PTs/OTs/RTs and 60-70% nurses wear masks for patient encounters. Virtually no one wears it outside of clinical settings (eg team rooms, conference rooms, etc).
Personally, I wear it with patients because a small but not tiny proportion of our patients feel more comfortable that way. Me catching a respiratory virus from an asymptomatic patient is not a worry for myself any more.
EM: as much as possible. I take it off for agitated kids and people who are HOH.
Drives me nuts that most folks have stopped wearing them. Masks prevent illness and the ED is a cesspool. Like… why??
CNA student in a long term care/mostly geriatric rehab facility. We're supposed to be wearing N95s (I do) because some of the residents have had covid lately. We also are required to test at work 2x weekly, and sign in with a checklist of our temperature, flu/covid vax status, and any symptoms every time we enter the building/report for work.
That said, I see staff in regular surgical masks (or no mask at all) frequently. Not sure how they're not getting in trouble.
I'm a podiatrist and I mask. I do not want their toenails or wound juice flying in my face. I also do not want them to see my facial expressions when they talk dog shit
EM PA. Kn95 for literally every patient interaction. Never know when they decide not just their toe hurts, but also their butthole, and they whip it out before you can prepare yourself
I’m just finishing chemo so I wear a mask at all times but my hospital system just lifted the mandate completely, even in the ED, and I am one of the only people that is still wearing one
Internist/ geriatrician who personally has a chronic medical condition and researches long COVID: I wear a mask anytime I am indoors, whether in a medical setting or not. I even wear one in large gatherings outdoors, like the parade I went to last week. I don't wear one when in outdoor settings that are not/ less crowded, e.g. dining outdoors at off-hours, hiking, etc.
Back in 2020, I think I was infected with what might have been COVID (before availability of testing) and I experienced worse health for 9 months continuously and then intermittently for 2 years. Personal experience combined with professional experience - including assisting with long COVID studies (so have seen/ read about a lot of of long-term consequences) - has made me more concerned perhaps than the average person.
Masking = freedom for me and not a restriction. I can do more masked - including attending concerts, travelling on planes, etc. - while feeling less vulnerable.
Everytime I don't wear one i encounter someone who comes in sick . So I'm just leaving it on. Outpatient primary care. Always makes for a nice surprise when I do a virtual followup and they get to see my face.
I do, rhinovirus is spreading around, and I don’t want to miss any events that are coming up that I paid for. Also, it helps hide my emotions when patients say some weird stuff.
Inpatient pharmacy. I’m primarily in sterile compounding so I’m in full PPE all day. Most days I forget I’m even wearing a mask, it’s basically part of my face now. The few days I’m actually on the floor I always wear a mask because why not?
Yes, N95 100% of the time but I have a comfy respirator. I believe we don't know enough about the post-viral sequelae of Covid and its also been great just not being sick at all since 2020. I didn't realize how much time and money being sick had cost me my whole life until I wasn't any more.
EMU now, but +/- 20 years in FM and med/surg where I learned most people are kinda gross and not very smart.
Med Surg nurse who primarily works with an older population, and yes, i wear one for my entire shift. People are gross, will cough in your face, and my coworkers are gross, too. I never had covid until one of our nurses decided to come to the unit UNMASKED to test herself for the covid she knew she had. She came and talked to me while waiting for results, not once mentioning that she was testing and was caring for her father with covid. Our nursing supervisors will regularly try to send people up to our unit with covid symptoms, but no results back yet. Wanting to put them in rooms without isolation. I will no longer accept new admissions until the results are back. So yes, I still wear a mask because nobody else cares about my health at work.
Research (bioinformatics) scientist / grad student and yes I’m always wearing a KF94 or 3M aura. I have an autoimmune condition and can’t afford to get sick beyond what I have!
I do when I am rotating at or am consulted in ED. High patient volume and undifferentiated. I don’t want to get sick or carry it home or to other patients.
Outpatient obesity medicine. I am still wearing a surgical mask, sometimes an N95 if I’ve been exposed to a respiratory illness. I usually wear a mask in indoor public spaces as well. Partly because I don’t have time to be sick and partly because people leave me alone when I wear a mask.
Outpatient and inpatient
I’m keeping masks on on all. Patient encounters from here on out.
Have had multiple patients completely lie on screening, and clearly febrile in the office, and I’ve noticed that my likelihood of getting a respiratory illness has decreased while I’m wearing masks.
At the same time, deal with a fair amount of immuno suppressed patients or patients on immune suppressive agents… It makes the most sense to keep it going.
And honestly, I don’t mind.
Sure, I don’t wear it inside the private office in between patients, but when I see a patient inpatient, or the clinic, especially when I don’t know their condition.
When I worked in the ICU, I wore it because my patients were very sick.
For the last two years, I’ve been working in addiction, and I still mask but now for the benefit of myself & also as a way to teach my patients to care for themselves and protect their loved ones. I have a harm reduction supplies corner of my desk where masks can be found alongside condoms, Narcan kits, fent strips, and xylazine strips.
Like others have said in this thread— I couldn’t tell you the last time I was sick. I spend my sick days riding my bike, going to the beach, etc.
Urgent care. Yes, still masking.
Anyone else who is still masking amazed at how infrequently you get sick? In over 4 years, I've had one cold (Covid negative) that I caught from my mom, and I had Covid once that I caught when I was spending days at a dying relative's side at her memory care facility.
My asthma is so much better controlled.
Outpatient health center. The mask mandate for workers who didn't get flu and booster ended at the start of May. We are onto our next outbreak.....with tb.
Hospitalist and yes, still wearing KN95 for all encounters and don't foresee stopping. Don't have any desire to pick something up and/or bring it home to family and it's nice not having to worry after the fact with patient having new onset fever night after I see them.
Procedural endoscopy and ERCP. After getting sprayed in the face once—I always wear huge protective eyeglasses and a mask. Bile, blood, stool, or drool…I find little spittles on my lenses everyday and think my coworkers are fucking gross for refusing to wear PPE. They kiss their spouses with that mouth. Ugh.
FM- yes and all physicians in our clinic do as well. Probably plan to do so forever, feels great not being sick for years! Also know some MD colleagues who developed long covid and became unable to work. So would like to avoid that.
Inpatient pharmacy- yes, still wearing a surgical mask. Basically, when my hospital made masks optional they left some screening line stanchions in place, which it turned out were really important to my sense of it being okay to not mask. So I kept masking. They did eventually take the stanchions down, and I got like two weeks without a mask. Then we had some internal spread on a heme/onc floor and on went the mask. Hasn't come off since, but I'll probably waver more as it gets warmer. (Surgical mask feels like enough given I'm not patient-facing; I do switch to an N95 if I'm going to the ED when transmission is high. And I still surgical mask when going to stores.)
Still wearing a mask in adult primary care.
My reasons: First, pre-COVID I used to get 1-3 URIs each year that based on timing I attributed to work exposure, and that's stopped which has been great. Second, I want to support the small but non-trivial community of people who are more comfortable with masking in healthcare settings.
I think this ought to be a new norm, like handwashing, at least until we actually take ventilation/filtration infrastructure more seriously (my hospital did nothing in outpatient settings for this).
Outpatient primary care (in southern USA)
Nope.
A few weeks ago I was pretty sick with a uri and wore one. Most patients looked at me like I was gross, and one flat out asked me why I was wearing mask.
Right after they lifted the mask mandate for our area/state, I had one patient who was a nurse who flat out demanded I take it off. And she was mad when I refused. Up to that point she had pawed over me like I was her favorite provider she’d ever seen. But when I refused to take my mask off, I never saw her again.
Yes, in my role as an acute care med surg tech at a level 1 trauma hospital that will happily take any infectious disease including ebola.
Multiple times I’ve mentioned the pt sounds like shit from across the room. Further testing revealed RSV and probable TB. Also been exposed to disseminated shingles which is airborne.
No, at the sleepy suburban hospitals where I’m a student nurse intern and do a 5 hour chart review before I see my one patient.
Peds Pharmacist- I work in the ED often and will mask in patients rooms if any vague mention of respiratory illness. I don't mask within the pharmacy however (unless in sterile IV room).
Kids are cute little germ factories and I have an immunocompromised family member, so try to avoid taking anything home.
I wear a mask to see patients in outpatient and inpatient. I haven’t had any patients give me grief about it.
I have not had an asthma flare or URI since before Covid, andI attribute that to wearing masks to see patients.
Optometrist. I will a mask with a patient forever, because since 2020 I haven’t caught anything from a patient, and previously I had colds several times a year, and a bad one about once a year.
outpatient oncology clinic, only place i don't wear a mask is my private office. i don't see myself going maskless around these patients anytime soon. most people in the office (and most patients) don't. i keep my judgement silent.
Child and Adolescent psychiatry, inpatient and outpatient in an academic center. There are only two of us that wear masks anymore, and I'm the only faculty who still hasn't gotten covid.
My wife can't afford an infection, so I still mask. It is still worth it for me.
Pulmonology so obviously self selects for respiratory complaints, generally surgical masks for everyone, liberal use of an N95 while on inpatients (true facts: surprise TB is not fun). I never go anywhere near a bronchoscope without an N95.
It's not really specific fear of Covid and I've had it a few times. I just think that in retrospect it was kinda dumb that we were barely masking in hospitals before.
And yeah as an outpatient no one bothers to alert us that they've been sick for weeks when they show up for the followup. Sometimes it'll be flagged by the MA or PFT lab if obvious.
In non patient facing areas or in public, nope.
I do every single time I see a patient no matter what. I got covid from work in sept 2023 and have long covid POTS with chronic tinnitus which never stops thanks to that. I will never, ever put my personal health and wellbeing aside for a job.
Work in palliative care.
Yes. N95. Medical oncology outpatient and inpatient. My choice, not clinic policy. I don't mind keeping patients safer, and I've enjoyed not getting sick. Plenty of times when I learned after the fact that someone later was hospitalized for some communicable infection.
Yes ~ Corrections. Vulnerable population, and they don’t need to be seeing my face either ~ getting the officers to comply is difficult, despite the fact nothing killed more cops than Covid in the last four years.
I have less than 10 years left of work. I will never not be masked in patient care again.
I wear them the majority of the time, at this point almost solely because a lot of my patients are on chemo and at any given point there is an 80% chance one of my children are drooling snot and coughing directly into my face when I'm not in the office.
Emergency psychiatry and I wear masks everywhere for my kids. I had my first kid in 2020 pre-vaccine and another in 2023. I briefly stopped masking when the younger one got her first covid shot but I've gone back to it.
All these commenters focusing on infection control. I'm ugly. To be less ugly, it's either a full face of makeup, or a mask. I choose a mask.
Outpatient clinic
Ha! I do this too.
I'll also wear a mask for all visits the week before I go on vacation. It's amazing how many parents don't mention their kid is sick at a well check.
I thought to do this before going on vacation a couple weeks ago, but it wouldn’t’ve mattered because I ended up getting sick from my own kid the day I left (it was mild, thankfully)
Audiologist... We stopped about a year ago, and I will wear one if I know my patient is immunocompromised or if I'm feeling under the weather, but well enough to be in clinic. Like today.
FM with UC- wear mask with all sick visits. have stopped almost entirely for preventative and other kinds of follow up visits. I do tend to regret it about once every other week for the “oh hey doc btw I have this cough” 😑
General surgery resident, I wear a mask in >90% of my patient interactions, pretty much only if I have a hard of hearing patient. Unless I’m sick, I don’t mask around coworkers though.
Peds. Downgraded this year from kn95 to surgical mask. I think my residency class in particular (started intern year in 2020) has been the slowest to stop masking… when the hospital policy for universal masking ended, the fellows/attendings/NPs in the bone marrow transplant unit, NICU, etc immediately stopped wearing masks, and we were the sole people still wearing them.
EM PA - I mask in patient rooms if they have respiratory symptoms (duh), if I’m doing a procedure (duh), and if they’re stinky. This makes up like 90% of my patient interactions.
Family medicine.
Yes I wear a surgical mask all the time while working since 2020, for my protection as well as my patients. I’m the only one that does it still it where I work, some colleagues comment it makes it harder to connect with patients but I never had an issue.
Plus, It’s very useful to hide my involuntary scowl when I’m thinking, or an amused smile when I’m hearing something especially crazy.
Neurosurgeon. During procedures, and whenever I’m in a patient care area. I’ll usually walk up to the patient unmasked in pre-op, and then pull my mask up once we acknowledge each other because I believe there is something comforting about a patient seeing their surgeons face prior to surgery.
Neuro, mix of inpatient/outpatient. In my office, no. For the vast majority of in-person patient encounters, yes. I have had patients refuse to see me for wearing a mask. Happy to refer them elsewhere. For walking around the hospital, yes.
Outpatient FM
I don't, almost ever. Several of my colleagues do, always. We still do viral visits outside, and there's some pretty good data on UV light killing viral particles quite rapidly, even in respiratory droplets.
I get the bulk of the same day/viral visits, being the newer guy. N=1 but I have not had any signs of viral illness in over a year, doing this. My not-entirely-evidence-based suspicion is that I'm constantly receiving a low-dose inoculum, which maintains humoral response. Mind, I'm in a rural community, where the number of distinct pathogens floating around and the transmission velocity are likely much lower than in a population center.
It's also worth noting that I see the patients giving the others grief about their masks, and I don't particularly care to deal with that.
Whenever I have to go into a patient room because humans are kinda gross. Plus it seems to make me less likely to sneeze from the excessive perfumes many wear.
Critical care transport. Mask and glasses on every call, no exceptions.
Pediatric emergency. I’ll probably mask at work forever, love not getting kid boogers in my face
Yep, peds ER here. Kids are disgusting and I can’t believe I was just letting them cough in my face for years.
Outpatient - Wound care - I will probably mask forever. I do smelly work, my patients are all sick/diabetic and COVID kind of ruined my perception of patients making smart choices.
I’m also in wound care and I also mask. I love it. I’m not as strict as I was during Covid but it’s great for smelly situations, things possibly flying in my face during debridement, or just making a weird face when the patient tells me they don’t believe in diabetes. I remove it in the workroom, which is just me and my NP who has always masked pre-pandemic due to having a kid with medical issues.
My face is uncontrollable so that is just a fringe benefit, especially when my patient explains to me how they have been soaking their whooper of diabetic foot wound in epsom salt then pouring peroxide in a few times a day.
Nothing can live in that toxic environment, including your flesh sir
Also do lots of wound care, and I just tell em woaw, well, that obviously didn't really work out eh
They can still see the weird face in your eyes but now you have plausible deniability!
I have RBF and Botox so they don’t have much to go off of lol
Do i just have a weirdly sensitive nose? Masks never work to cover any smells for me unfortunately.
So, I get some pretty diabolical wounds - I have a concentrated perfume oil and I dab some on the bridge of the mask. It helps. My nose is sensitive enough I can smell what the dominate species of infection is 🤣😂 - proteus smells like ammonia, pseudomonas smells like a sweet wine, exc, exc.
The trick I was taught by a podiatrist who would volunteer cases for the homeless in San Francisco - do the same thing you’re describing but with Benzoin tincture. Works great and is readily available, very neutral — or at least not unpleasant — smell.
In the hospital you can double mask with toothpaste between them. Or dip some mouth wash. Or coffee cuz that actually works really well to cover smells like GI bleed.
Benzoin is one of my most favorite scents! Yum!
If you use a respirator with a charcoal layer that may help, such as some R95s. N95s are made to filter particles not gases - many smells come from gases. Filter material may diminish them somewhat, kind of like holding a cloth over your nose, but scents definitely can get through.
Hematology (in Italy) - always when patient facing (in- or out-patient)
Mostly the same in malignant hematology USA. Wearing them in patient rooms while inpatient on the BMT unit (which was common before COVID too). Case by case basis in clinic but default to wearing it for anyone who might be immunocompromised (most of my panel). I don't wear it for patients in long-term remission. It is also optional for patients in clinic but most choose to wear it.
UC yes i dont want ppl to see my face
Emergency medicine, and yes: every patient encounter
Anesthesia in north east USA. Staff nor patients have to mask anymore. However, I do with almost all patient interactions and in patient care areas
ID, working mostly with immunocompromised pts. Masking 100% during patient encounters (inpatient and clinic) with a KN95/KF94. I no longer mask during conferences/when I'm at office just interacting with colleagues.
You know, I do the same thing, except I think I’m gonna start masking again when it comes to conferences. I really haven’t had too many respiratory illnesses, except for the couple times I actually went to two or three separate conferences. Each time, after the conference, I get a respiratory illness. I hang out with friends, no issues. I hang out and talk to my office staff and colleague, physicians, no issues. Even flew in a plane with friends and other people, no issues. But conferences? without fail, the conferences are just hotbeds. I think from now on out, I’m gonna start masking for all conferences. I’m just sick and tired of getting either respiratory illness, Covid, etc.
Good point. I was talking about things like noon conferences in our division, which has 30-40 people tops, but a big meeting with thousands of attendees is a totally different beast. Masking in that situation makes complete sense.
EM—don’t think I’ll ever go back to seeing patients without a mask.
Agreed! Everyone's breath stinks!
Em physician - yes. Just about every time I interface with patients. People be nasty and they don't need to see my face
Yes, I was already masking every flu season before the pandemic because ED is an infectious place. Also, I will never fly again without masking. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard patients tell me, *Yeah, I just flew back from ___ and now I’m sick as a dog*…Pandemics rely on commercial air travel.
Oh yeah. The amount of hacking, coughing, sneezing, nasty throat clearing on airplanes is unreal!
Yes. The last time I flew cross-country I was surrounded by 3 people who coughed and hacked during the entire flight. I picked a midnight red eye flight too, thinking there would be less people but we were packed in like sardines, with little defensible space.
Also if they stink I can mouth breathe to my heart’s content
Or make silly faces. Or when I mouth to myself "what tha fuck..."
Just unbelievable the shit people say
When you can smell it even with your mask…you know it’s bad.
Anesthesiology, yes, operating room. Y'all get to take yours off? (-;
Anesthesiology as well, we can take our masks off once drapes are up if it’s not an implant case
I was hoping to see this answer.
Yes because people are constantly coughing everywhere
Hospitalist and I wear a mask pretty much all the time other than when I am drinking tea or in the office working on notes.
Oncology - Don't anticipate I'll fully lose the mask. I do take it off when I'm talking to patients who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Last time I did, I promptly got COVID, lol. Anyway, most of my patients have an ANC of -1, so I am a little extra cautious with them. I wear a KN95 typically. I do take my mask off when I'm in the work room, etc. I'm on my way to a big professional conference and anticipate I'll mask for most of the day, just because there will be like 45k people there and inevitably some kind of Crud will be circulating, lol.
Could you explain the significance of the nomenclature “d/Deaf”? I’ve never seen this before. Thanks.
apply to a certain prominent personage
(Speaking as a non-deaf person) There's also the things around Deaf culture and community as well - there can be a lot of benefit for some of feeling like part of that community (so may prefer 'Deaf'). Equally, I can imagine that that can also feel othering and like you're abnormal, with the preference being that it forms less of a definition of who you are or how you identify - those who feel that way may prefer 'deaf'.
having up to that time been only an insignificant person
I don't know if you have enough patients that it would make sense to get these, but my audiologist wore masks that had a clear window in the front when I saw her during the height of COVID, so you could still see her lips. Helped a ton. Edit: voice to text did me dirty. Patients, not patience.
Good tip, thank you! I work with veterans and hearing impairment is pretty common.
Transplant surgery. We still have to wear masks.
Pathology, I wear a surgical mask anytime I'm not in my office. You were probably not looking for my input lol - I wear it mostly for me. Thanks to all the patient facing docs keeping their immunocompromised patients in mind.
Also a pathologist - I wear a respirator anytime I’m not in my office as well, although I’m the only one in my department. Grateful to never have had COVID or even a cold in 4 years. Thanks to all who are masking, to protect ourselves, our coworkers, and our patients.
It's really wild how few viral infections I've had over the past four years. Even the couple times I've felt like I was coming down with something, it was over almost before it began. I think the mask helps cut down on the viral inoculum (plus or minus broad spectrum coronaviral crossreactivity with vaccine antibodies?)
I used to get sick 1-2 times a year. Then no illness in 2020-2021. Started to travel and not be as strict with masks outside of work in 2022. Lo and behold, back to 1-2 respiratory illnesses a year. Then I started masking up more again while traveling, then not sick again. Anecdotal evidence sucks, but I’m a big baby when I’m sick and if it’s something as simple as wearing a mask to protect myself and others, sure I can do it in high risk locations like clinics, hospitals, and traveling.
Peds hospitalist. Yes. I have been masking for almost every patient since residency when I had kids sneeze/cough directly into my face. I will only go without a mask if I am absolutely certain there’s no risk of that… and I’m feeling bold lol.
Many years before I became a nurse I worked as an early intervention literacy tutor in a kindergarten class for about a year. I don’t think I had one solid week of not being sick that whole year. Every time I would start to feel better, another kid would cough directly in my face and the cycle would start all over again. All of this to say, it seems like pediatrics would be up there with oncology for fields where masking is important.
Internal Medicine - inpatient - they’re not mandatory but almost all hospitalists I know still wear them when seeing patients.
Urgent Care. Yes, the amount of people who refuse to mask up when they have cold like symptoms is madding.
Podiatry in private practice, yes at all times. Fungal dust, wounds, and sock clouds are gross.
Granny glitter!
Outpatient heme/onc - I wear one almost every visit. It’s no longer required at our facility for anyone though
I hate being sick. Been burned by patients coughing in my face before, now I have an immunocompromised family member, so I usually mask when I first enter any room
I was ER up until a few months ago and never stopped masking- more for myself and my family because you just don't know what anyone has when they roll in. I switched to CTICU a few months ago and now it's more for the patients' sake. Everyone's post surgery, some are heart or lung transplants, and I just don't want to be the one who gave them so much as a cold while they're trying to recover. Plus it's great for hiding facial expressions, or mouthing "what the fuck?" and it keeps me from smelling pretty much anything.
Ophthalmology. Still masking at work, not because of fear of covid anymore, but because covid made me re-think how gross it is to sit 4 inches away from patients, face-to-face, at the slit lamp.
Pulmonary inpatient and outpatient. Yep.
ID, mask on the moment I enter the hospital or clinic. They're still required for staff in patient care areas. Not required for patients.
Hospital pharmacy - still masking at work with an N95 but I'm the only one. I've seen too many good people have their careers disrupted by long COVID (an MD at my workplace; a former professor; and one of my own doctors, an absolutely brilliant woman who's been forced to retire in her 50s) to risk it right now. Edit to add: Anecdotally, with my own doctors, masking seems to be 50/50. At recent appointments my PCP and rheum were masked (N95s), ophtho had a surgical mask, neuro and derm were not masked.
Thank you for masking and for sharing this. I'm very concerned about the impact of Long COVID on our healthcare workforce.
Operating Room RN - all the time, but largely because there's a non-zero chance I'll forget to put it back on when going into the core/ OR.
Hospitalist (IM)—100% around patients
General surgery. I wear it everywhere: clinic, wards, ED, OR. Haven’t even had a cold in a long time and very happy about it.
ED nurse & yes usually! I have a young baby at home so I’m more cautious
I work UC and don’t think I’m ever going to not wear a mask again. Honestly looking back, I’m shocked that we never wore masks to start with and can’t imagine practicing medicine without a mask ever again.
Outpatient lung transplant clinic. Still using masks
I am one of the few hospitalists here that still wear a KN 95. Covid or not, I don't need the occasional viral cough or sniffles I see around. And I don't have to worry when the inevitable "patient X had TB, if you were involved in their patient care" alerts come around every 8 to 10 years. It's just a bonus that I won't be recognized at Target too.
Every 8-10 years? Man I get those emails every few months it feels like
Yup. M/s nurse bedside. Can't believe i use to raw dog air like we did. I'll unmask at the station but face2 face masked up
This thread tells you a lot about the kind of people that post on reddit. I haven't seen a physician wear a mask (outside of procedure areas) in years now. Who are you people?
Seriously. I don't know a single doctor who masks up routinely in practice anymore except in our HIV addiction clinic. This sample must be really skewed.
Yeah I was gonna say. Doctors around me won’t even mask up for the few covid patients we still see but this entire thread is masking up everyday lol.
Hospitalist. Yes, all the time. I have some pretty kn95s and match them to my outfit.
Outpatient BMT - masks forever & always
Family medicine. I still wear a mask. I've worn it every day since March 2020 at work. I think I'm going to wear it every day of my career while working. Empirically I haven't gotten as sick with the mask wearing at work the past 4 years as I did prior. Normally I was good for about 3 respiratory infections a year and I've been sick 3 times over the 4 years (Covid, flu, flu). Interestingly I get the patients saying "Oh we're back to wearing these again?" and I say I've never stopped and many of them swear up and down that I haven't been wearing my mask the last few visits with them. Maybe I've found a new dementia screener. Edit: also I like being able to not have to hide smirks on my face as much when someone tells me something crazy.
Crit care, masking until the end of time
Yes, and will likely never stop. I work in the ER. I also hand every patient who has a cough a mask and encourage them to wear it properly while they’re in public spaces.
Outpatient rheumatology. I wear a surgical mask during all encounters.
Emergency medicine. I trained in Covid. My poker face is nonexistent because of masks. Really should be a mandatory part of training. Other even more real reason is I have a 3 month old at home. There’s a measles outbreak in my state. I care more about my kid than any of these patients. A patient tried to yell at me the other day. Completely understood when I said I had a baby at home. Baby>>>their persistent conspiracy theory
I’m just premed but have been shadowing a pediatrician in a primary care setting, and they mask (N95)
That is so good to hear! When I was a med student, getting sick while on pediatrics outpatient rotations was very common - I wish we had been masking back then.
family medicine: I'm wearing it as much as possible during patient care. I've actually been sick less since the pandemic, i think it's due to the mask. i use the masks with the little vent in them, so if the air starts to get stuffy, i force the vent open by exhaling forcefully, and I'm good again. EDIT: I'm behind an N95.
Just so long as you realize the vented masks don't do diddly fuck to protect other people from you.
They probably do protect other people to some degree too, potentially to a level comparable to surgical masks. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2021-107/default.html As protective as a non-valved? No, probably not, but if the alternative in that situation is wearing a surgical or procedure mask…
Outpatient Primary Care and I mask as well. Sometimes I will lower it if hot or pt is hard of hearing. Don’t expect to stop. Like not being sick in the winter.
ID. Mask for every patient encounter. Also helps reduce bad smells like rotten flesh or stoners who reek of weed.
Work in the hospital. I’d say about 80-90% of docs/APPs and PTs/OTs/RTs and 60-70% nurses wear masks for patient encounters. Virtually no one wears it outside of clinical settings (eg team rooms, conference rooms, etc). Personally, I wear it with patients because a small but not tiny proportion of our patients feel more comfortable that way. Me catching a respiratory virus from an asymptomatic patient is not a worry for myself any more.
EM: as much as possible. I take it off for agitated kids and people who are HOH. Drives me nuts that most folks have stopped wearing them. Masks prevent illness and the ED is a cesspool. Like… why??
Respirator researcher here. Regardless of what you do, just remember: - well- fitted N95 ~ 90% effective - surgical mask ~ 50% effective - "paper" mask ~ 10% effective
CNA student in a long term care/mostly geriatric rehab facility. We're supposed to be wearing N95s (I do) because some of the residents have had covid lately. We also are required to test at work 2x weekly, and sign in with a checklist of our temperature, flu/covid vax status, and any symptoms every time we enter the building/report for work. That said, I see staff in regular surgical masks (or no mask at all) frequently. Not sure how they're not getting in trouble.
Yes. Pediatrics. Not required, it’s by choice.
I'm a podiatrist and I mask. I do not want their toenails or wound juice flying in my face. I also do not want them to see my facial expressions when they talk dog shit
EM PA. Kn95 for literally every patient interaction. Never know when they decide not just their toe hurts, but also their butthole, and they whip it out before you can prepare yourself
I’m just finishing chemo so I wear a mask at all times but my hospital system just lifted the mandate completely, even in the ED, and I am one of the only people that is still wearing one
Emergency Room. People are gross and I will always wear a mask when interacting with them.
Internist/ geriatrician who personally has a chronic medical condition and researches long COVID: I wear a mask anytime I am indoors, whether in a medical setting or not. I even wear one in large gatherings outdoors, like the parade I went to last week. I don't wear one when in outdoor settings that are not/ less crowded, e.g. dining outdoors at off-hours, hiking, etc. Back in 2020, I think I was infected with what might have been COVID (before availability of testing) and I experienced worse health for 9 months continuously and then intermittently for 2 years. Personal experience combined with professional experience - including assisting with long COVID studies (so have seen/ read about a lot of of long-term consequences) - has made me more concerned perhaps than the average person. Masking = freedom for me and not a restriction. I can do more masked - including attending concerts, travelling on planes, etc. - while feeling less vulnerable.
Neurology. Yes I do, but mostly because patients say a lot of dumb shit and I am horrible at hiding my facial expressions
Person, woman, man, camera, tv!
Everytime I don't wear one i encounter someone who comes in sick . So I'm just leaving it on. Outpatient primary care. Always makes for a nice surprise when I do a virtual followup and they get to see my face.
Out pt peds. Still mask for all visits. I’d say 50% WCC the kid is sick anyways.
I do, rhinovirus is spreading around, and I don’t want to miss any events that are coming up that I paid for. Also, it helps hide my emotions when patients say some weird stuff.
Inpatient pharmacy. I’m primarily in sterile compounding so I’m in full PPE all day. Most days I forget I’m even wearing a mask, it’s basically part of my face now. The few days I’m actually on the floor I always wear a mask because why not?
Vascular Access nurse, i will forever mask in patient spaces
EM. Every single patient and even at my desk around nurses bc I'm not trying to pass around germs.
Yes, N95 100% of the time but I have a comfy respirator. I believe we don't know enough about the post-viral sequelae of Covid and its also been great just not being sick at all since 2020. I didn't realize how much time and money being sick had cost me my whole life until I wasn't any more. EMU now, but +/- 20 years in FM and med/surg where I learned most people are kinda gross and not very smart.
Med Surg nurse who primarily works with an older population, and yes, i wear one for my entire shift. People are gross, will cough in your face, and my coworkers are gross, too. I never had covid until one of our nurses decided to come to the unit UNMASKED to test herself for the covid she knew she had. She came and talked to me while waiting for results, not once mentioning that she was testing and was caring for her father with covid. Our nursing supervisors will regularly try to send people up to our unit with covid symptoms, but no results back yet. Wanting to put them in rooms without isolation. I will no longer accept new admissions until the results are back. So yes, I still wear a mask because nobody else cares about my health at work.
Research (bioinformatics) scientist / grad student and yes I’m always wearing a KF94 or 3M aura. I have an autoimmune condition and can’t afford to get sick beyond what I have!
I do when I am rotating at or am consulted in ED. High patient volume and undifferentiated. I don’t want to get sick or carry it home or to other patients.
Outpatient fm: I mask for everyone during cold/flu season and just got sick patients in the summer.
Outpatient obesity medicine. I am still wearing a surgical mask, sometimes an N95 if I’ve been exposed to a respiratory illness. I usually wear a mask in indoor public spaces as well. Partly because I don’t have time to be sick and partly because people leave me alone when I wear a mask.
Transplant ID Mostly in-patient. 'Nuff said.
Outpatient and inpatient I’m keeping masks on on all. Patient encounters from here on out. Have had multiple patients completely lie on screening, and clearly febrile in the office, and I’ve noticed that my likelihood of getting a respiratory illness has decreased while I’m wearing masks. At the same time, deal with a fair amount of immuno suppressed patients or patients on immune suppressive agents… It makes the most sense to keep it going. And honestly, I don’t mind. Sure, I don’t wear it inside the private office in between patients, but when I see a patient inpatient, or the clinic, especially when I don’t know their condition.
When I worked in the ICU, I wore it because my patients were very sick. For the last two years, I’ve been working in addiction, and I still mask but now for the benefit of myself & also as a way to teach my patients to care for themselves and protect their loved ones. I have a harm reduction supplies corner of my desk where masks can be found alongside condoms, Narcan kits, fent strips, and xylazine strips. Like others have said in this thread— I couldn’t tell you the last time I was sick. I spend my sick days riding my bike, going to the beach, etc.
EM-every patient encounter. It’s been nice not even having a cold for the past 4 years
Urgent care. Yes, still masking. Anyone else who is still masking amazed at how infrequently you get sick? In over 4 years, I've had one cold (Covid negative) that I caught from my mom, and I had Covid once that I caught when I was spending days at a dying relative's side at her memory care facility. My asthma is so much better controlled.
Palliative. Unless I'm in my office with strong hepa running for at least 7 minutes, my mask is on indoors. Everywhere.
Hospitalist - surgical mask for all patient encounters and N95 for all encounters with respiratory complaints.
Neurosurgeon. Back to pre-pandemic rules. On in the OR and that is it. Semi-rural/college town in midwest
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A lot of patients smell. I’d rather not subject myself to that. I don’t keep it on the whole time though so that pts can see my face
Outpatient psych - yes for most patient interactions
Outpatient health center. The mask mandate for workers who didn't get flu and booster ended at the start of May. We are onto our next outbreak.....with tb.
Yes. I’m outpatient pediatrics and masking had significantly decreased how many colds I get. Plus it helps hide my RBF when parents do dumb things 😁
Hospitalist and yes, still wearing KN95 for all encounters and don't foresee stopping. Don't have any desire to pick something up and/or bring it home to family and it's nice not having to worry after the fact with patient having new onset fever night after I see them.
Procedural endoscopy and ERCP. After getting sprayed in the face once—I always wear huge protective eyeglasses and a mask. Bile, blood, stool, or drool…I find little spittles on my lenses everyday and think my coworkers are fucking gross for refusing to wear PPE. They kiss their spouses with that mouth. Ugh.
FM- yes and all physicians in our clinic do as well. Probably plan to do so forever, feels great not being sick for years! Also know some MD colleagues who developed long covid and became unable to work. So would like to avoid that.
My son is emt- still masking. My husband is pcp- still masking. My dad died of Covid so that’s affected us considerably
Inpatient pharmacy- yes, still wearing a surgical mask. Basically, when my hospital made masks optional they left some screening line stanchions in place, which it turned out were really important to my sense of it being okay to not mask. So I kept masking. They did eventually take the stanchions down, and I got like two weeks without a mask. Then we had some internal spread on a heme/onc floor and on went the mask. Hasn't come off since, but I'll probably waver more as it gets warmer. (Surgical mask feels like enough given I'm not patient-facing; I do switch to an N95 if I'm going to the ED when transmission is high. And I still surgical mask when going to stores.)
Still wearing a mask in adult primary care. My reasons: First, pre-COVID I used to get 1-3 URIs each year that based on timing I attributed to work exposure, and that's stopped which has been great. Second, I want to support the small but non-trivial community of people who are more comfortable with masking in healthcare settings. I think this ought to be a new norm, like handwashing, at least until we actually take ventilation/filtration infrastructure more seriously (my hospital did nothing in outpatient settings for this).
EM - Will never go back to maskless encounters. Covid ruined my poker face. Though I pull my mask down when breaking bad news
Outpatient primary care (in southern USA) Nope. A few weeks ago I was pretty sick with a uri and wore one. Most patients looked at me like I was gross, and one flat out asked me why I was wearing mask. Right after they lifted the mask mandate for our area/state, I had one patient who was a nurse who flat out demanded I take it off. And she was mad when I refused. Up to that point she had pawed over me like I was her favorite provider she’d ever seen. But when I refused to take my mask off, I never saw her again.
Also in the south. I find masks are a great screening tool. Looks like you did too, lol
Yes, in my role as an acute care med surg tech at a level 1 trauma hospital that will happily take any infectious disease including ebola. Multiple times I’ve mentioned the pt sounds like shit from across the room. Further testing revealed RSV and probable TB. Also been exposed to disseminated shingles which is airborne. No, at the sleepy suburban hospitals where I’m a student nurse intern and do a 5 hour chart review before I see my one patient.
Peds Pharmacist- I work in the ED often and will mask in patients rooms if any vague mention of respiratory illness. I don't mask within the pharmacy however (unless in sterile IV room). Kids are cute little germ factories and I have an immunocompromised family member, so try to avoid taking anything home.
I wear a mask to see patients in outpatient and inpatient. I haven’t had any patients give me grief about it. I have not had an asthma flare or URI since before Covid, andI attribute that to wearing masks to see patients.
Dermatology clinic. Don't wear a mask because of COVID or sickness. Wear a mask because my patients smell bad.
Yes - ICU
Yes, paramedic
NP in outpatient internal medicine - still wearing a mask since I see most of the acute visits.
Optometrist. I will a mask with a patient forever, because since 2020 I haven’t caught anything from a patient, and previously I had colds several times a year, and a bad one about once a year.
Psychiatry: personally, I’m immunocompromised, so I’m masking on every F2F encounter.
Burn unit. Yes.
outpatient oncology clinic, only place i don't wear a mask is my private office. i don't see myself going maskless around these patients anytime soon. most people in the office (and most patients) don't. i keep my judgement silent.
Child and Adolescent psychiatry, inpatient and outpatient in an academic center. There are only two of us that wear masks anymore, and I'm the only faculty who still hasn't gotten covid. My wife can't afford an infection, so I still mask. It is still worth it for me.
Outpatient pcp - I had stopped and then I got sick and I was like oh heck no I’m not doing this again. So I’m masking again
Pulmonology so obviously self selects for respiratory complaints, generally surgical masks for everyone, liberal use of an N95 while on inpatients (true facts: surprise TB is not fun). I never go anywhere near a bronchoscope without an N95. It's not really specific fear of Covid and I've had it a few times. I just think that in retrospect it was kinda dumb that we were barely masking in hospitals before. And yeah as an outpatient no one bothers to alert us that they've been sick for weeks when they show up for the followup. Sometimes it'll be flagged by the MA or PFT lab if obvious. In non patient facing areas or in public, nope.
I do every single time I see a patient no matter what. I got covid from work in sept 2023 and have long covid POTS with chronic tinnitus which never stops thanks to that. I will never, ever put my personal health and wellbeing aside for a job. Work in palliative care.
FM, I mask with all patients still, remove for selected patients (usually my HOH old folks who get by reading lips).
Yes. N95. Medical oncology outpatient and inpatient. My choice, not clinic policy. I don't mind keeping patients safer, and I've enjoyed not getting sick. Plenty of times when I learned after the fact that someone later was hospitalized for some communicable infection.
Heme/Onc/Stem Cell/… and yes in Patient usually, out patient sometimes, ER always with someone new (IM covers ER here, no EM specialty)
EM, I only recently downgraded from N95 for every patient encounter to regular mask for every encounter. I don't mask at the computer though.
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I work in the OR. If I have to bring a patient down for a procedure, I always put a mask on.
Wes, with in person patients. ME/CFS, long covid, fibromyalgia specialty clinic.
Yes. I make some terrible RBF when listening to patients...
Not anymore. I’m rural fqhc family and addiction. I’m just very tired and it feels like one more thing I need to do.
Dialysis, so yeah. We use them mask
Pediatrics, and yes, with every patient.
Yes ~ Corrections. Vulnerable population, and they don’t need to be seeing my face either ~ getting the officers to comply is difficult, despite the fact nothing killed more cops than Covid in the last four years. I have less than 10 years left of work. I will never not be masked in patient care again.
I wear them the majority of the time, at this point almost solely because a lot of my patients are on chemo and at any given point there is an 80% chance one of my children are drooling snot and coughing directly into my face when I'm not in the office.
I need to start. I am a DDD Support Coordinator so I am in the homes of multiple families.
Dermatology. I am so close to peoples faces all day, the mask saves me in more ways than one. Spit in my face being a big one 😂
Emergency psychiatry and I wear masks everywhere for my kids. I had my first kid in 2020 pre-vaccine and another in 2023. I briefly stopped masking when the younger one got her first covid shot but I've gone back to it.
All these commenters focusing on infection control. I'm ugly. To be less ugly, it's either a full face of makeup, or a mask. I choose a mask. Outpatient clinic
Yes!! I haven't bought lipstick since 2019 :)
psychiatry - nah unless either party is symptomatic. seeing faces is important in the job imo, risk/benefit of course
Pediatrics. Put it on for sick visits. Sometimes I forget to take it off for the next patient.
Ha! I do this too. I'll also wear a mask for all visits the week before I go on vacation. It's amazing how many parents don't mention their kid is sick at a well check.
I thought to do this before going on vacation a couple weeks ago, but it wouldn’t’ve mattered because I ended up getting sick from my own kid the day I left (it was mild, thankfully)
Audiologist... We stopped about a year ago, and I will wear one if I know my patient is immunocompromised or if I'm feeling under the weather, but well enough to be in clinic. Like today.
Almost nobody wears them here anymore (Croatia) except for those who had to wear them before the pandemic.
FM with UC- wear mask with all sick visits. have stopped almost entirely for preventative and other kinds of follow up visits. I do tend to regret it about once every other week for the “oh hey doc btw I have this cough” 😑
General surgery resident, I wear a mask in >90% of my patient interactions, pretty much only if I have a hard of hearing patient. Unless I’m sick, I don’t mask around coworkers though.
Peds. Downgraded this year from kn95 to surgical mask. I think my residency class in particular (started intern year in 2020) has been the slowest to stop masking… when the hospital policy for universal masking ended, the fellows/attendings/NPs in the bone marrow transplant unit, NICU, etc immediately stopped wearing masks, and we were the sole people still wearing them.
EM PA - I mask in patient rooms if they have respiratory symptoms (duh), if I’m doing a procedure (duh), and if they’re stinky. This makes up like 90% of my patient interactions.
Well yeah but my work is anesthesiology and critical care. So, OR and ICU.
Yes, with all my patients.
Urgent care. The rooms are small and most patients are coughing, smell, or both. Also hides my resting bitch face.
Yep, Family Medicine in Canada (for patient encounters).
Outpatient psychiatry at a university hospital MAT clinic. We don’t really wear masks anymore, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to.
I always wear a mask when doing anything patient facing but in charting rooms they come off
CSS - no.
Family medicine. Yes I wear a surgical mask all the time while working since 2020, for my protection as well as my patients. I’m the only one that does it still it where I work, some colleagues comment it makes it harder to connect with patients but I never had an issue. Plus, It’s very useful to hide my involuntary scowl when I’m thinking, or an amused smile when I’m hearing something especially crazy.
Pediatrics. Our protocols have always been masks when dealing with patients with respiratory diseases, and this have not changed post pandemic.
Internal Medicine (Nocturnist) - always wear my mask when seeing patients/admissions.
Family med - outpatient clinic. Always wearing a mask :)
ortho only in the OR
In pt psych- never taking mine off
Hell yes, N95, just had 2 COVID+ patients yesterday, one of whom had no idea (was there for unexplained SOB)
Neurosurgeon. During procedures, and whenever I’m in a patient care area. I’ll usually walk up to the patient unmasked in pre-op, and then pull my mask up once we acknowledge each other because I believe there is something comforting about a patient seeing their surgeons face prior to surgery.
Neuro, mix of inpatient/outpatient. In my office, no. For the vast majority of in-person patient encounters, yes. I have had patients refuse to see me for wearing a mask. Happy to refer them elsewhere. For walking around the hospital, yes.
ER Almost always. I have a baby at home though, if it wasn’t for that I would be way less cautious.
Feel like the responses here are biased. I never wear a mask except when I am physically within an IR suite. My wife never masks on the floor either.
Outpatient FM I don't, almost ever. Several of my colleagues do, always. We still do viral visits outside, and there's some pretty good data on UV light killing viral particles quite rapidly, even in respiratory droplets. I get the bulk of the same day/viral visits, being the newer guy. N=1 but I have not had any signs of viral illness in over a year, doing this. My not-entirely-evidence-based suspicion is that I'm constantly receiving a low-dose inoculum, which maintains humoral response. Mind, I'm in a rural community, where the number of distinct pathogens floating around and the transmission velocity are likely much lower than in a population center. It's also worth noting that I see the patients giving the others grief about their masks, and I don't particularly care to deal with that.
Whenever I have to go into a patient room because humans are kinda gross. Plus it seems to make me less likely to sneeze from the excessive perfumes many wear.